One lyric that always sounded corny to me ...

[philipchevron]

I'm curious about this. How would "my friends" appear to work less well (I don't say it does, I'm just asking) in one context when it works so beautifully in another, such as Rainy Night In Soho's

We watched our friends grow up together
And we saw them as they fell
Some of them fell into heaven
Some of them fell into hell.,

This is always a choker, but for me that actually happens on the words our friends before the fell/heaven/hell drives the emotion home.

I have always thought you were so cool you could have put out Vietnam was one of Shane's best jibes. But hey, not everyone likes all of Shakespeare's sonnets either!

[Pyro]

philipchevron: I guess it is because "grow up together" directly says it is about children (or ex-children) and so it isn´t very odd.

But I must admit I can see nothing wrong with that phrase even in Dark streets.

+ Shane wasn´t really old yet, those times:-)

[MacRua]

I'm curious about this. How would "my friends" appear to work less well (I don't say it does, I'm just asking) in one context when it works so beautifully in another, such as Rainy Night In Soho's

maybe because of grow up together :)
Children live in b&w world populated with "our lot" and "aliens". Being child you tend to call "friend" everyone you mess in sand-box with. With every year quantity of your friends decreases. Not that they keep falling into heaven or hell, simply you getting older begin to realize not every drinking partner deserves to be called "friend".
Well it's all about "real friends" and "just friends" and so on, i.e. absolutely abstract, vague and irrational thing

[philipchevron]

That's where I went wrong, I think. I never had any drinking friends in my sandbox.

[Monreith2]

I think it's because of the melody of 'The Dark Streets ...' combination with the words. Also in 'A Rainy night in Soho' the speaker is clearly referring to the distant past and his CHILHOOD friends while although 'The Dark Streets ...' is written in the past tense it's probably not referring to the too distant past ; i.e because of the mentioning of drinking, although I hear Shane was a drinker from childhood. Anyway It's sounds alright if you refer to your childhood friends as 'my friends', but sounds a little awkward in the context of reminiscing about drinking buddies. That said I love the song, and my setiments are more in line with the person who said that the line 'didn't sit quite right' or something of that nature. You guys are making me feel so guilty about this

[MacRua]

That's where I went wrong, I think. I never had any drinking friends in my sandbox.

hope there was sand at least...

I said "getting older"... Usually people getting older leave their sandboxes and move to ...hmm... pubs for example

Anyway It's sounds alright if you refer to your childhood friends as 'my friends', but sounds a little awkward in the context of reminiscing about drinking buddies.

AHA!! so i got it right (what you meant)

[DzM]

Anyway It's sounds alright if you refer to your childhood friends as 'my friends', but sounds a little awkward in the context of reminiscing about drinking buddies.

That makes no sense to me. What else would you call them? "My chums?" "My blokes?" "My mates?" Why would "my friends" be any more awkward than these slang terms?

[sheva]

It's such an individual thing, isn't it? A song is such an immediate, intimate work of art - we experience them in a more personal way than other art forms. Hard to say why a line stikes one person this way, another person that way. How you react to a lyric involves more than the words themselves; we bring a lot of our experiences and emotions to it. I don't know that I can put into words why I related to Monreith's initial statement, and we don't seem to be reacting that way for the same reasons. I just felt that there was, perhaps, something to what he was feeling.

Nothing to feel guilty about though - why, look at the thoughts it's generated!

Having said that, I must add as an aside to Philip - you were hanging out in the wrong sandbox.

[MacRua]

Let's say firm NO to profanations!
Let's renew sacred and pious word "FRIEND", let's clean it out! *
"FRIEND" - for longterm and loyal friends only!

---------------
* - from sand

[philipchevron]

Anyway It's sounds alright if you refer to your childhood friends as 'my friends', but sounds a little awkward in the context of reminiscing about drinking buddies.

That makes no sense to me. What else would you call them? "My chums?" "My blokes?" "My mates?" Why would "my friends" be any more awkward than these slang terms?

You might perhaps call them "my mates", but Shane MacGowan is a skilful enough writer to know that "my friends" SINGS better than the mumbly "my mates". These things matter.

A lyric in the Kurt Weill/Ira Gershwin song "My Ship" in the show "Lady In The Dark" went

I will wait for years, till it appears,
one fine day, one spring


But something had been bugging a cast member, listening to a rehearsal, and finally, he spoke up: "Why", he wondered, "does she wait four years? Why not three years or five years or.........."

The lyric was changed that day and has, ever since, gone

I will wait the years, till it appears,
one fine day, one spring

which is grammatically inept, but sings like a dream.

[Monreith2]

In response to DzM, I feel a slang term would be much more appropriate in this particular context. Think about a real conversation; Q. Who did you go drinking with last night A. (a) My Friends or (b) the lads, my buddies, a few pals, the by's (as we say in Newfoundland) In a real conversation I would probably never say "my friends" although maybe "some friends" or "old friends". Maybe the word "my" with its connotations of possesion adds a little awkwardness.

Anyone hear ever heard of or been to Newfounland. The majoraty of us have roots in or near near County Waterford. Our culture, hence our traditional music is very similar to Ireland's.

[MacRua]

a crusade's declared for proper use of friend:
take your fighting bucket and I'll take my scoop,
we will leave our sand box, shake off dear sand,
fill our native country with a victrous hoop

[Rich]

I've actually always really liked "you were so cool you could have put out Vietnam" because it's so, well, brilliantly ridiculous. If nothing else, it's certainly memorable!

[Cornish Andy]

I think the worst line has to be "I'm just a wally hanging out on Pattaya Beach". Can you really hear Shane calling anyone a 'wally'?! I've always wondered if the record company suggested they changed it from something else in case the song ever got released as a single.

[DzM]

I think the worst line has to be "I'm just a wally hanging out on Pattaya Beach". Can you really hear Shane calling anyone a 'wally'?! I've always wondered if the record company suggested they changed it from something else in case the song ever got released as a single.

"Wally" is relatively common Australian slang though. And Australians tour through Asia quite a bit on holiday, so their slang tends to make the rounds. So if Shane is using local slang to indicate hanging out in Thailand, then it's really not that bad.